Schools

ATLANTA -- Georgia's Student Advisory Council is now accepting applications for the 2012-13 school year.

The Student Advisory Council reports to State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge to discuss how decisions made at the state level affect students throughout Georgia, according to Georgia Department of Education spokesman Matt Cardoza.

The council will meet twice during the school year -- Wednesday, Nov. 7 and Wednesday, Mar. 6. Applicants must be available to meet on both days.

All Georgia students in grades 9-12 are encouraged to apply.

"I am looking forward to getting to know a new group of student advisors and discuss how our policies affect them on a daily basis," Barge said in a statement. "We want to make education work for all Georgia's students and hearing directly from them is the best way to ensure that happens."

ATLANTA -- You can do your part this week to curb Georgia's high school dropout rate. All you need to do is eat at one of your favorite restaurants.

On Thursday, Aug. 23, proceeds from restaurants across the state will be donated to Communities in Schools of Georgia, an organization that encourages young people to complete their education and succeed in life.

The sixth annual Dine Out for Kids event hopes to exceed last year's total of $30,000 for children in the state.

Communities in Schools, which has chapters across the country, provides mentoring and after-school services, including parent education, literacy programs and youth leadership opportunities.

Participating Dine Out for Kids restaurants in Atlanta and Decatur include:

DECATUR, Ga. -- The DeKalb County School System basically lost $12 million in projected revenue in what appeared to be the wink of an eye. But the county agency that crunches the numbers says the school board may have overlooked numbers that had been available for weeks.

The revenue projections are based on data gathered in downtown Decatur at the tax assessor's office. It's no secret that property assessments are down, which is why property tax revenue is down.

But on Monday night, school board officials said they got new data -- just in the previous day or so -- that drastically reduced those projections.

But that data was available weeks ago, says the man behind the data, Dekalb chief appraiser Calvin Hicks.

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. -- The DeKalb County School Board members received shocking news on Monday night that the system faces another $12 million dollars in cuts on top of the $73 million dollar hole they've spent weeks trying to fill.

The panel tabled a vote on the budget after learning the news they now have to consider $85 million in budget cuts.

"Based on some new figures from the county that the tax digest would actually be worse," said Walter Woods.

"The original projection was 6 percent lower, when it's actually 9 percent lower," Woods said. "We'd have to account for another $12 million in the budget."

That now brings the total budget gap to $85 million; but who does it affect?

The state's first free virtual charter school received very positive feedback from the parents of its students during the 2011-12 school year.

Almost 90 percent of the parents who responded to a survey gave the school a grade of either A or B, and 92 percent they would recommend GACA to other parents. Eighty-five percent of parents said they were more satisfied with GACA than with their children's previous schools.

About 52 percent of the school's 610 families responded to the survey, according to GACA officials.

"Our parent satisfaction survey really illustrates our commitment to accountability," principal Heather Robinson said in a statement. "We value this parent feedback and use it to help make our virtual school program better. I am very pleased with the results, in particular the positive feedback about our teachers and the curriculum."